The Courtroom Phantom
by lovelyBRN13
Summary: When Maya Fey begins to have strange nightmares, nobody questions it and thinks of it as normal. However, when she begins to get hurt by the dreams, Phoenix Wright begins to have doubts about everything being fine. As he delves into the mysteries, he soon realizes that he needs to rescue Maya from her fate. Not for her, but for everybody else's sake. Rated T for safety reasons.
1. Prologue, Chapter 1

**Full summary: When Maya Fey starts to have strange nightmares, everybody thinks its nothing major, just a normal occurrence. However, when she begins to get physically injured from said nightmares, defense attorney Phoenix Wright begins to have doubts. As suspicions begin come to light, dark secrets are revealed, and evil plans start to come afoot, he knows that he must save her. But, can he change a "decided" fate, and unveil the mysteries of the dreams?**

**Joined by some old friends, as well as a new ally, Phoenix will attempt to break through the binds of fate, and everybody will be pushed to their breaking points to uncover the secrets of Courtroom #13.**

* * *

**Hello, and welcome to my newest fanfic, The Courtroom Phantom! I'm counting this as my first actual AA fanfic because the first one I wrote sucked. Really, really, really, bad. It's on deviantART if you want to check it out, but I recommend you spare your brain cells and don't.**

**Anyway, this is an AU that takes place in between the second and third games, and is an adventure/psychological thriller/mystery/romance. The main ship is Phoenix/Maya, as well.**

**This is a fan-made work. The Ace Attorney series and the related characters belong to Capcom. The only things I own are the OCs and the story itself.**

* * *

_Maya Fey often had strange dreams._

_The strangest, however, was of one that she always had, night after night, the same thing, over and over._

_Maya would walk through the courthouse, and go into the court library. Moving a book on supreme court cases would reveal a secret compartment on top of the bookshelf. Inside the compartment was an oddly shaped key. Maya would grab the key, leave the library, and walk down the hall to a door to a courtroom. She would put the key into the lock, turn it, and open the door._

_After that, she would wake up. However, for the past two weeks, she had been waking up screaming and crying._

_Little did she know that the secrets of that dream would turn everything into a swirling mass of chaos and challenge everything she knew..._

_Little did she ever know..._

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**March 17, 8:05 a.m.**

**Wright &amp; Co. Law Offices- Upper floor**

Phoenix Wright woke to Maya screaming. By now, of course, he was used to it, but this wasn't the sound of a bad dream, he soon realized.

This was a scream of pain and agony.

He rushed into Maya's room, where Maya Fey was clutching her head, her fingers splayed apart like talons. Tears streamed down her face. Suddenly, she stopped screaming, and sat up, straightening her fingers and untangling them from her long, thick ebony hair. Instantly, Phoenix knew that something was wrong, because it took her left hand longer to get out. It was as if her hair was sticking firmly to it.

Maya let the blue-violet covers fall around her, her white satin nightgown hugging her figure slightly. The straps fell off her thin, pale shoulders, shiny with sweat. Her right hand moved to clutch her pillow, and her left to the neckline, right below her burnt orange colored magatama necklace. Phoenix could see what looked like something a dark crimson color on her hand. She was panting, her chest heaving up and down in short, rhythmic strokes. Her warm milk chocolate colored eyes were wide with fright, tears still threatening to spill onto her tear-streaked face.

"Maya...what's wrong?" Phoenix asked.

"I...I continued the dream..." Maya whispered, her voice hoarse. "This...I don't think this is...an ordinary dream anymore..."

"It never has been." A small voice replied. Pearl Fey was crouched in a corner, still in her light blue pajamas. A large dark purple bruise was on her right cheek, her dark hazel eyes were opaque. "This has never been an...ord-i-na-ree...dream..."

Phoenix nodded, still focused on Maya's hand. Maya, thinking that phoenix was looking at her breasts, covered them with her right arm.

"Maya, your hand." Phoenix said. "There's something on your hand...!"

Maya tentatively let go of her nightgown and gasped when she saw it.

Her left hand was completely covered in blood, a rather large wound in the center of her palm.

Phoenix left the room and shortly returned, holding a roll of bandages, a wet cloth, and a small bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol solution. He sat down next to Maya on her bed and grabbed her left wrist. She let her hand, which had been curled into a fist, lay flat, and Phoenix wiped away the excess blood off her hand, then twisted the cap off the bottle of alcohol solution and gently poured it onto the wound. Maya gasped, her face contorting in pain. She turned away and let out a loud wince, her teeth gritted.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Phoenix said softly. He hated seeing Maya in pain as much as much as she hated receiving it.

He finally stopped pouring, two-thirds of the bottle still in it. After bandaging her hand, Phoenix put everything back in the bathroom, and ran the cloth under warm water. He wiped Maya's face with the cloth, calming her. He did the same to Pearl, as well, after coaxing her out of the corner and putting bandages on her bruise.

Phoenix left them and went to his own room, where he got dressed in his blue suit. He pinned his attorney's badge on, grabbed the case file for the trial that he had that day, and went downstairs to the office.

The Wright and Co. Law Offices was a small apartment-style building located near the downtown district in the greater Los Angeles area. It had once been Mia Fey's, Phoenix's late mentor, and thus had a beautiful feminine charm to the upper floor, which was the living quarters-the carpet was a lush, warm lavender, and the walls were a cool lilac with white trim. There were four bedrooms, and two bathrooms, one across from one of the rooms, and one in the master bedroom. Each of the bedrooms were either cream or white, and the bathrooms were tiled in various shades and tints of blue.

The office itself, on the other hand, was very strict and professional-looking. The colour scheme was black, grey, and cream, with the exception of the oak hardwood floors. The lobby was very neat, as usual, the reception desk with the ledger on it meticulously polished, and the black leather sofa for clients free of dust.

Phoenix walked into the study, which he used as a private office for himself, hidden behind a door in the back. The study was actually quite small, with a small desk, on top of it an old, clunky computer. Bookshelves lined themselves behind the desk, chock full to the brim with thick, heavy tomes on law. To the left of the desk was a window, showing the beautiful spring sky.

Phoenix watered the houseplant by the window, lovingly named "Charley" by Mia, and sat down in front of the computer. The familiar sound of a shower running permeated from the upper floor. The computer finally booted up, and Phoenix clicked on one of the word files. He himself created the files, and they ranged from different subjects, from cases to even Maya and Pearl. He opened Maya's file and clicked on a document entitled "dreams." He headed a new page with the date and time and began to type about the events that happened fifteen minutes ago.

* * *

**March 17, 8:18 a.m.**  
**Wright &amp; Co. Law Offices- Upper Floor, Maya and Pearl's bedroom**

Maya got undressed and put on her fluffy white robe. After helping Pearl get untangled from her process red sash-she always got tangled up in it-she went across the hall to the bathroom to take a shower.

She untied the bandages from her hand. She guessed that it was about three-quarters of an inch deep, not far enough down to cause substantial damage. It was a circular cross-section, about two inches in diameter. Maya had no clue what it was, but by the tissue damage alone, she could tell it was probably supposed to go in farther, and that it was definitely something meant for piercing. She estimated that, in actuality, it was about ten inches.

After taking her shower, Maya got, clinging onto the shower curtain for more support than usual. She felt dizzy, and the hazy images caused by the steam didn't make her feel any better. She suddenly stopped, her right foot on the edge of the tub. She thought she heard the shuffling of feet somewhere nearby. She shook her head wearily. _It's probably just your imagination. _Maya told herself. _Your mind's playing tricks on you, is all._

However, she couldn't decide if that was really true or not. Her vision was wavering, and the footsteps became louder and clearer. She gripped the curtain tighter.

All of a sudden, her vision became sharp, but her hearing dulled, as if her ears plugged up. A shadowy hand loomed towards Maya. She screamed and ran to her right on. However, her right foot slipped off the edge of the tub, and her left got caught on the lip that she had her right foot. She turned in midair to see something falling over her, then felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. Maya landed on her side, the sound of footsteps all around her, and her vision faded to black before she could even cry out for help.

But, she could one thing before she was fully unconscious. A young girl's voice, saying just two small words, over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

* * *

**March 17, 8:53 a.m.**  
**Wright &amp; Co. Law Offices- Upper Floor hallway**

Pearl Fey stood outside of the bathroom door, her hand resting on the doorknob. She knew what she was going to see on the other side, as she had heard the crash, she just wasn't sure if she wanted to really see.

She slowly opened the door and carefully walked inside. Just in front of the door was Maya, her back towards Pearl, unconscious. The shower curtain had been ripped down and was draped over her legs. Her arm was outstretched, as if she was reaching for something. On her back was a series of deep cuts, forming the number thirteen.

Pearl slowly shook her head. "You idiot." She said, her voice slightly deeper than what it usually was. "If it was getting this bad, then why didn't you tell me?" She sighed. "It's always the same with you, Maya. You try to be strong to cover up your weaknesses... I would fight for you, but I'm just too weary of this to do so." She closed the door and walked downstairs. "Doing this over and over again...nothing's changing. I don't think it will ever change. But, my job is to protect you and Phoenix, and that I will do, until the end of the earth. I will...I will find a way to change this fate!"

As Pearl stepped into the lobby, Phoenix walked upstairs, a concerned expression on his face. He suddenly broke into a run, then came down the stairs again.

"The paramedics should be on their way now, Mr. Nick." Pearl said to him, her voice her normal tone again. "I heard the crash and wanted to know what was wrong."

"Ah, th-thank you, Pearls." Phoenix replied, a worried smile on his face. "I'm really grateful for your help."

"Um... Is something wrong, Mr. Nick?" Pearl asked. "You look kind of scared."

"No, it's not that, it's just that, well, I'm kind of worried about Maya." Phoenix explained. "And, well, yes, I am scared. I'm scared because I know that these dreams have been getting worse, and now she's actually getting physically hurt by them, which seems, well impossible. I just don't want Maya to suddenly wake up one day, trapped in her dream."

Pearl nodded. "Yes, that would be quite terrible. I know that Mystic Maya tries to act strong to protect herself, but she doesn't want to ask for help with this. We were talking about it last night, and she said that if she gets through this on her own, then she'll prove to everybody that she's strong enough to take care of herself. I'm worried about her because of that. If she dies...then..."

Phoenix patted Pearl's head softly. "It's okay, Pearls. I'm sorry to bring this up. It must be hard on you, to just sit and watch idly by while all of this happens."

Pearl shook her head. "I'm fine, Mr. Nick. Honest, I am! I just want to know if you're okay. After all, your special someone is in so much pain...and you shouldn't be sad because of that. You should smile, because Maya would like it if you were keeping your spirits up for her. Just smile, okay, Mr. Nick?" She grinned. "Nipah!"

Phoenix let out a small chuckle. "You're right, Pearl. Maya wouldn't want me to down right now. Thank you." A knock on the door made him get up. The paramedics had finally arrived, and he lead the way to where Maya was. Pearl sat calmly where she was.

_Phoenix, please, for all of us...keep your resolve strong. Your will to see Maya happy again is the key to everything. I just know it._


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, at least it wasn't three months.**

**I'm so happy for your reviews, and hope that you enjoy the rest of the story, as well. One of the reasons why this was so delayed was because I couldn't access deviantArt on my computer for a while. I even attempted to write a second version of this chapter, which didn't save. However, if you want to see it, I guess I could always upload it as an extra after the story's finished.**

**I kept listening to Madoka Magica music while writing this chapter, so if this one has an even stronger vibe of that than the first one, then that's why.**

**This is a fan-made work. The Ace Attorney series and the related characters belong to Capcom. The only things I own are the OCs and the story itself.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**March 18, 9:24 a.m.**  
**Hotti Clinic- Waiting Room**

It felt as if time had stopped for Pearl.

The waiting room had that kind of effect, though. It had dreary-looking gray walls, with hard, uncomfortable blue chairs with hardly any fabric on them. The hardwood floors were dull and covered in worn spots. The windows had white frames to them, and were wide, to let natural light in, but it only made the room look more sullen than it did before. Off-white blinds hung halfway on the windows, as well. A little boy sat in one of the chairs near a window and started to play with the blinds, causing them to swing wildly. His mother scolded him and he stopped, the blinds swinging softly.

The clock on the wall ticked silently, the minute hand moving ever so slightly. It was 9:25.

Phoenix paced in the room in front of her, silent. Nurses and doctors in scrubs walked in and out of the room, and people left with them. Nobody stopped in front of the two of them.

Soon, the waiting room was silent, as well. Phoenix and Pearl were the only two in the waiting room. She hated the silence, but could do nothing about it. She looked out of a nearby window. The sky was a beautiful shade of light cerulean, with only a few puffy white clouds drifting along lazily. It was the perfect day for a spring picnic, or a walk in the park.

She couldn't stand it when the weather was so nice when something terrible was going on. Pearl began to absentmindedly swing her legs back and forth while she thought.

_Right, left, right, left, right..._

She remembered that Maya once told her about Mia's funeral, which took place shortly after her trial. Maya had said that it was unusually warm for fall, and that the sky was perfectly clear.

"You know, Pearly, I don't understand why so many people think that funerals always take place on cold and stormy days." Maya had said after that. "I think they're usually on days that are nice and sunny. I wonder why...?"

Pearl replied, "Maybe it's to show us how small we really are? One person out of six billion...even a hundred out of that number is still small when you think about it."

Maya told her not to worry about it too much, and that she was just simply thinking aloud.

_Thinking... _Pearl thought to herself. _I've been doing a lot of that lately._

She looked up at the ceiling, still swinging her legs. The blinds still moved slightly, the pull cord dangling in the breeze.

Pearl stopped looking at the ceiling and looked at the blinds in interest. The windows were closed before, so why would they be open now, and who opened them? She hadn't sensed anybody walking in. She got up and walked over to the window and reached out towards the pull cord to the blinds. As soon as her fingertips touched the cord, the blinds suddenly snapped up, revealing an overcast sky, with a bloodstained window.

"Mr. Nick, what's-" Pearl asked as she suddenly turned around, but stopped talking as she noticed that she was actually alone in the waiting room. There was no evidence of him leaving, but none of him even being there, at that.

"What's...what's going on here...?" Pearl asked, letting her words fade into the heavy, tension-filled air. That was the strange part-there appeared to be nobody in sight, but the air about the whole hospital had a quite weighted aura about it, as if something bad was going to happen. She turned back to the window. The blood had spread from the window to the sill, and was still dripping down the wall.

She was about to leave when something caught her attention. A strange aura of some sort, black and heavy with...something. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but she knew that she had sensed that aura somewhere before. Pearl finally took a deep breath to calm her emerging nerves and walked out, following the source of the aura. It felt as if she wasn't moving of her volition; that whatever that aura was attached to was calling and leading her.

The aura lead her to a thick, grey door. The sign above the door read "morgue." Pearl opened the door, leading to a dimly lit stairwell leading downward. She walked down silently, barely hearing her footsteps. She passed a series of faded paper handprints on the wall. They had various names on them, written in the same set of handwriting.

Pearl examined them closer. Written on the thumb and pinky were two different years. She stepped away from the faded handprints with a wave of melancholy washing over her. They were the names of children who had died and been taken to this morgue, and the dates were of when were born and died. She continued walking down the stairs, her hand absentmindedly trailing on the wall above the hands of the dead. Her pointer finger slipped down onto one, and Pearl stopped.

It had her name on it.

She looked at the others beyond it, and noticed they all had her name on them. She leapt over to the other side of the stairwell, crashing into the railing. It crumbled under her weight, and she nearly fell. She ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over her feet and the stairs when she tried to take them two at a time. The walls started to fall apart, causing Pearl to dodge several holes in the floor. Small whispers and sounds of laughter came from behind her. She willed herself to move faster, and attempted to sprint down the stairs, only to trip and roll down, her back slamming into the wall.

After a while, it seemed like the stairs would never end, and the farther down Pearl went, her insanity slipped away from her. The stairs began to change shape, and popped after she stepped off of them. The remains of the walls became covered in stars and cosmic shapes, and the gaps turned into strange rainbow-striped creatures that stayed on the wall, hissing and shrieking at her. The stairs suddenly ended and curved into a lopsided hill with many rises and dips in the path. Pearl broke out into a run, tripping and falling.

_Is this what Maya has to face everyday? _Pearl thought. _A sudden loss of sanity, stability, and feeling like she's just running the same path, over and over again?_

She tripped and fell again, this time rolling over to her back, watching the ceiling crumble around her. She outstretched her arms, not moving, just watching everything with a blank expression.

_No, this is my inner thoughts. What I really feel. It's like I'm in a never ending labyrinth. Thus, this is my life: A labyrinthine mess of never ending disasters that I cannot stop. This fate I cannot break. Whenever I get to the end, this happens. It just all falls apart, and it's all...my...fault...!_

Tears slipped down Pearl's cheeks.

"This is all my fault..." She whispered. "I...I can't...do this...anymore..."

She let out a small sob, her voice cracking as she continued to speak.

"I can't...I can't...I...just can't...!"

Suddenly, a bright light filled the remains of the room. The ceiling rose into the air, piece by piece, affixing itself to where it went. The hills became flat as it turned back into the floor, and the constellations and cosmic shapes twisted and turned, and eventually turned back into the plain walls, except instead of being gray and black, it was all white, with large windows covering the walls.

"You look like you need some help." Somebody said. They bent down next to her. "Why are you just laying on the floor and not getting up?"

"I don't know." Pearl whispered. "Is it bad to say that I've given up?"

"Here." They held out their hand. "You really don't have to do this alone, you know. So, why give up now when you haven't even asked for help?"

Pearl stared at the person's hand for a bit, then slowly reached out and grabbed it. She stood up, and they walked down the hallway.

"You don't have to do this alone anymore, Pearls. You're not alone anymore..."

* * *

Pearl sleepily opened her eyes. Her body slowly drifted downward, then collasped in the chair beneath her. She had her head back on the chair, looking at the ceiling. She slowly dragged her left leg up the chair and wrapped her arms around it, lowering her head. Slow, deliberate movements were the key to bringing down her spiritual energy levels. They always spiked whenever she got out of a vision and, for her, took a while to go back down to normal levels. Pearl closed her eyes, letting her sensing ability take over.

Phoenix was sitting next to her, and somebody was walking towards the room. She lowered her leg again and opened her eyes. She looked at Phoenix again, puzzled. His aura was blazing with hope, but the expression on his face was not one of happiness. It wasn't even sorrow. His expression was completely apathetic, unreadable.

"Mr. Nick..." Pearl asked quietly. Phoenix looked over to her and smiled.

"What is it, Pearls? Is something the matter?" He asked.

"Um...well...it's a little hard to explain, but I'll try to." Pearl replied, and took a deep breath. "If I told you that I knew everything that was going to happen in the next few days, would you believe me?"

"Wh..what? What do you mean?"

"I already knew that all of what has happened up to this point in time would happen in the exact order that it did. I already know the gist of what is going to happen in the future. I need your help, Mr. Nick. We need to prevent the future that is going to happen from existing. I didn't realize it at first, but I now know the key to everything. The key to solving this inescapable maze. Your fate is intricately tied to so many others that whatever you do affects the future as a whole. You're the only one who can break this fate, Mr. Nick!"

Phoenix was silent.

"Mr. Nick?" Pearl asked. "Do you...believe everything I just said? Do you trust me?"

"You're a good kid, Pearl." Phoenix replied. "But, you don't need to make up all of this to make me feel better."

"But, I'm...!" Pearl protested. "I'm not! Everything I've said is true!"

"And how do I know that?" Phoenix asked.

Pearl felt the chains around her envelope and saw in her mind three Psyche Locks. She knew that she couldn't tell him the whole story just yet. He wasn't ready to hear all of the truth, especially not with how cold he was treating her. She could tell that he was still hurting because of what had happened with Maya.

Phoenix sighed, then looked at his phone. "I have to call Edgeworth to tell him we're going to be late for the trial. Wait here."

As he left, Pearl looked at the clock. It was 9:47. She turned her attention to the sky again.

_What a lovely day out...it's a perfect day for a walk, or a picnic..._

Pearl got out of her seat and walked down the hallway.

* * *

**March 18, 9:49 a.m.**  
**Hotti Clinic- Room 5053**

Maya Fey's room was silent when Pearl walked in. It was a small, empty field of white, with an open window above Maya's bed. A set of transparent white curtains blew softly in the early morning breeze. Maya was unconscious, her arms tied down to her bed. Pearl sighed, then took out from the folds of her sash Maya's magatama necklace, which she tied around her cousin's neck.

"There. I'm sure you'll feel a little better that way." Pearl said quietly. She then took out from her sash a small medicine case, which contained a small syringe and a few glass jars. She filled the syringe and injected it into Maya's right arm. "Please, stop forgetting your daily injections. Don't you see how important they are?"

Maya turned softly, then weakly opened her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm not immune yet, unlike someone _else _I know."

"I know." Pearl replied. "If only I wasn't immune...then I'd take the injections for you."

Maya shook her head. "You know I wouldn't want that for you, Pearly." She looked back up at the curtains. "You're too young to endure such pain."

"If only she knew what kind of pain you've endured..." A voice said, inaudible to Maya. Pearl turned around, then went to face Maya again.

"Hold on for a few minutes." Pearl replied, then closed her eyes, touching her magatama with one hand. The world changed, and Maya disappeared.

"What do you want, Keyblade?" Pearl asked, turning around again. Her hair was long, and blew around her and she held onto a large, black scythe.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing, Xionn." A girl with long black hair in two long, bushy ponytails replied coolly. She levitated in the air, her long white dress with black trim flowing about her. A black sash tied around her waist had a _karakusa _pattern on it, and she held on her shoulders a large key, the top of it curved into a scythe's blade. Her olive green eyes shone with greed. "Because your friend there doesn't seem to be."

"She had a sudden relapse today." Pearl replied. "The Death Seed should dislodge itself from her soul soon." She turned back to where Maya had been, now a bright blue silhouette with a large black seed-like object in the center. "See, her soul's fainter than before, and the Death Seed's colour is already fading. "In a few hours, her soul should be back to the normal transparency and the Death Seed will be gone."

"Yeah, you're probably right. How lame." Keyblade remarked. She took out a small box of candy and grabbed a piece, then held the box out to Pearl. "Want some?"

* * *

**March 18, 10:07 a.m.**  
**Hotti Clinic- Dr. Sycamore's office**

"So, how exactly is Maya's condition?" Phoenix asked. The doctor in front of him frowned slightly. He was quite a young doctor, and most likely just finished his residence years. He wore his shoulder length jet black hair in a ponytail, and thin black glasses, which somehow made his azure eyes brighter than they really were. His nametag read "Yamato Sycamore."

"We're still quite complexed about what exactly happened." Dr. Sycamore replied. "She was fine one moment, the next, she was trying to scratch out her throat. We sedated her and tied her arms down, of course, in case it happened again."

"She was...trying to scratch out...her throat...?" Phoenix asked. _I feel like I've heard that before. Maya trying to scratch out her throat was a final symptom to something...what was it...?_

"Yes, Mr. Wright. Also, do you know if the number thirteen has any correlation to Maya?" Dr. Sycamore asked, laying a picture down on his desk. Phoenix picked it up and frowned slightly. "We think that the loss of blood from those cuts might've been the reason for her falling unconscious. However, from what you have said, it appears that she may also have acute to severe paranoia, possibly caused by these strange dreams. Mr. Wright, do you, Pearl or Maya have any history of sleepwalking, or PTSD? Or maybe suicidal and homicidal thoughts or actions?"

"No, of course not. We're fine, we're all fine..." Phoenix answered. "Do you think that one of us did it? Pearl is eight, and I'd never do anything like that to Maya. Not to mention the fact that this is all over her back. She couldn't have done this on her own."

"Well, I'd still like to have her stay overnight for observation." Dr. Sycamore said, standing up. Phoenix stood up, as well, and they both walked out of the office. "If these dreams are the source of her paranoia, then I'm going to have to know the root of the dreams."

"Alright, then. Thank you for doing this for us, Dr. Sycamore." Phoenix said. He suddenly stopped to see Pearl standing in the middle of the hallway. "Pearl, where did you run off to? I was worried when I didn't see you in the waiting room..." He stopped talking as he realized that something was wrong. Her hair was down, the ponytail holders used to keep her hair up in her hand. Her hair flowed about her head softly, barely touching the base of her neck. Her head was downcast, her eyes covered in a shadow left by the front of her hair.

"Mr. Nick..." She asked, her voice at a lower pitch than usual. "Why...why do you trust him...?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

**March 18, 10:20 a.m.**  
**District Court- Courtroom #4**

Pearl and Phoenix walked into the courtroom in silence. Edgeworth gave a small nod in greeting, then looked away slightly, as if ashamed for acknowledging them. The audience, which was usually quite chatty, was deathly silent, which felt odd to Pearl. It was if the silence was slowly, painlessly suffocating her, taking the air out of her lungs and not letting her get any back in return.

The two of them stood behind the defense bench when the judge finally spoke. "Mr. Wright, I expect you to be more punctual in the future. Mr. Edgeworth did tell me that you were running a little behind, but I was not expecting twenty minutes. For your excessive tardiness-oh, is Maya Fey not with you today?"

"That's right. Something happened to her and we took her to the hospital. I'm sure she'll be fine soon, though." Phoenix replied. _I'm kind of worried about the judge's suddenly short attention span, but hey, it saved me from a penalty! Win some, lose some, I guess..._

"Yes, I hope she will be. Now, erm, what exactly was I going to say...?" The judge asked, crinkling his brow.

"I believe, Your Honour, that you were about to give them a penalty for excessive tardiness." A young woman standing next to Edgeworth said, smirking. Her voice had a strange gravelly sound to it that made it strangely pleasing to listen to. All Phoenix could think of to describe it was liltingly melodic, with a hint of brashness. Overall, it was quite a handsome voice, but fit the certain boyish charm she had, even though she had a pretty girlish appearance. Pearl stared at her interest. _Her voice sounds so familiar..._

She flipped her long jet black hair, most of which was a slightly messy high ponytail, back and out of her face, and fidgeted with her brown gloves, her olive green eyes shining with mischief. The golden key in her hair moved slightly, and Pearl gasped. The girl looked over at Pearl and appeared to be taken aback.

"Ah, yes, that's right. Thank you. Mr. Wright, you do deserve a penalty, after all. Please be here on time whenever possible." The judge replied, slamming his gavel.

"You have got to be kidding me..." The girl muttered. Her sassy nature had disappeared completely, replaced with disbelief. Pearl had a similar expression on her face.

"No way..." Pearl whispered. "Keyblade?"

"Xionn?" The girl asked.

"You two know each other?" Phoenix asked. _I've never seen that girl in my life, and she isn't wearing the robes from Kurain... So, how does Pearl know who she is?_

"N-no, um, never seen her before, whoever she is. M-mii~..." Pearl said nervously. _Keyblade, if you say anything wrong right now, you're in for a world of pain later._

"The name's Kay Faraday." Kay said, smiling. "I'm Mr. Egdeworth's assistant." _Xionn, you say one thing wrong and I swear I'll hurt you._

"Well, now that introductions have been made, let's move onto the trial, shall we?" The judge asked. "Mr. Wright, I do hope you're ready."

"Yes, Your Honor." Phoenix replied.

"I'll give the opening statement, then." Edgeworth said matter-of-factly. "We're continuing the trial from yesterday, of..."

Pearl zoned out, not sure if she should pay attention or not. her mind was all over the place, from her vision to Maya, then Keyblade- Kay, she reminded herself -being in the courtroom, which she hadn't been expecting at all.

_Yo, Pearl. _Kay said telepathically. _Is everything okay? I may not seem to be, but I'm really worried about what's been going on. Especially with you._

_I'm fine, Kay._ Pearl replied. _I can handle this on my own._

_No, you can't._ Kay said. _You're just a little kid. How old are you, anyway? Physically, at least._

_Eight._ Pearl responded. _I'll be nine soon, though._

_You really_ are _just a little kid, then... _Kay mused. _How'd you wind up like this?_

_I walk a different path from everyone else._ Pearl said darkly. _How exactly I got like this is no concern to you, though._

Kay turned away slightly. _You're quite uncooperative._

_This so far has been my life._ Pearl suddenly said.

Kay looked back at her. _What...? What...could you mean?_

Pearl scanned the courtroom. Just as she thought, there was no unfamiliar face there, besides Kay. _The same days, repeating over and over again... Not a glimmer of light appears within me anymore. At this point, it might just be easier to give this all up._

Kay straightened her key, then tapped the edge of the teeth. Time stopped, and everything became shrouded in dark mist.

"Look, I don't know what the heck you're going through right now, but giving up is already out the option." Kay said.

"Nobody knows what I'm going through." Pearl replied. "But, I think it's better that way. If nobody knows how much sorrow and darkness is in my heart, then maybe...that will give me the strength I need to keep going." She nodded. "Yeah. If I can still keep up the cute and innocent act for just a little longer, then nobody will ask questions. The fewer questions asked, the more my heart stays towards the light."

"You're already slipping on that act." Kay said. "Look, why don't you tell me what's going on?" Pearl shook her head. "You don't want to, or you can't?" Pearl didn't respond. "Okay, let me guess. Does it have something to do with your friend with the Death Seed?"

"...She's my cousin, you know." Pearl said softly. "That's why our auras look so similar."

"Oh, I see." Kay replied. "You're worried about her because of everything that's been going on and such. I'm sure she'll be fine though. She seems like such a robust girl. She's going to be okay. I just know it."

"Okay, then." Pearl said absentmindedly. She turned away from Kay. "If that's what you think, then..." She looked up to the sky, then tapped her magatama. Time resumed, and Kay was left standing beside Edgeworth with a worried expression on her face.

Pearl smirked, then whispered something to Phoenix. He looked startled for a moment, then she pointed something out between two things in the court record. He nodded, then objected, uncovering something that Edgeworth hadn't thought about.

Kay glared at Pearl. There was just something strange about her, but she couldn't put her finger on it...

* * *

**March 18, 3:37 p.m.**  
**District Court- Courtroom Lobby #3**

"I can't believe we got out so early, Mr. Nick." Pearl said. "Usually your trials are much longer than that."

"Well, I'm glad. Besides, we got another day for investigating." Phoenix replied, stretching. "Hey, I'm going to the bathroom, then we'll head over to the crime scene, okay?"

"Okay!" Pearl said happily. Phoenix smiled softly, patted her head, then walked off. She sat down on the sofa when the group of teenagers walked by.

"No way!" One of them said. "C'mon, dude, that's impossible."

"No, it's true." Another said. "I saw it with my own eyes! The ghost of courtroom number four. Hey, Shane, you were there. Back me up here."

A third teenager, most likely Shane, spoke up. "I told you, Dawson, it was an illusion! You were probably just seeing things."

"Yeah, in the middle of an empty courtroom? As if." Dawson said haughtily.

"Hey, Dawson, right?" Pearl asked, getting off the couch. "Tell me more about this ghost you saw."

"What the...?" Shane asked. "Hey, Dawson, you know this kid?"

"Never seen her in my life." Dawson said. "Unless, of course, she's one of Amy's million friends who I can never get straight. Hey, you know what? She's wearing the same clothes that ghost chick was wearing."

"What, so we're talking to a ghost now or something?" One of the two girls asked.

"No, the ghost was older." Dawson answered.

"Did she have long black hair?" Pearl asked. "And scratch marks on her neck?"

"Yeah, why?" Dawson said. "Do you know who she was?"

Pearl turned on her heel and walked away. "Her identity is of no importance to you. I only needed to confirm it myself."

"Man, kids these days are so freaky." The other girl with them said. "I mean, they say the weirdest things. They just don't make any sense, y'know?"

Phoenix walked out of the bathroom just as the teenagers walked around a corner, into a different courtroom.

"Well, we should probably get going right about now." Phoenix said to Pearl. "I'll call a cab." Pearl nodded, and Phoenix started to walk off again, then noticed that she wasn't following. "Pearls, aren't you coming? It shouldn't take too long, after all..."

Pearl looked startled, then nodded again. "Coming, Mr. Nick." She ran over to him, clutching his arm with both of her hands. "I'm sorry for being so spacey today, Mr. Nick. I guess I'm just thinking a little too much about Mystic Maya's doing. Do you think we could visit her again soon?"

"Sure." Phoenix said. "I don't see why not."

The two of them walked down the steps, Pearl lessening her grip on Phoenix's arm a little. If anybody had walked past, looked up at them, and didn't know Phoenix, they would've assumed that Pearl was just his nervous daughter and they had just finished seeing a trial.

Pearl looked up and saw the sky had darkened since the trial, and clouds had moved in, threatening to send down rain any minute. She shivered a little and walked a little faster, stopping when they reached the bottom of the steps.

Phoenix tracked down a nearby taxi, handed a piece of paper to the taxi driver, and got in with Pearl. They were driven through a while around the area, then were in a different area altogether. This part of town was practically deserted, with long rows of gray houses along old cobblestone streets. The sky finally opened and rain came pouring down. The driver turned on the windshield wipers, Pearl being glad for the sound in the deathly silent cab.

"This clearly isn't the way home." Pearl finally said, breaking the silence between the three of them. "So, where are we headed, Mr. Nick?"

"You'll see in a few minutes, Pearls." Phoenix replied, looking straight ahead. "And when you do, you might piece together what we're doing."

Pearl didn't respond, and looked out the window in silence at the rain fall down around them, listening to the sound of windshield wipers go back and forth eerily.

* * *

**March 18, 4:03 p.m.  
Kat's Cake and Coffee- front entrance**

Pearl tilted her head at the old sign hanging on the awning. "Such a weird name." She said. "Why not just call it a café?"

Phoenix patted her head softly. "Well, this place is quite old, but special. We're sure not to have any ears spying on us here."

"Ears...?" Pearl asked, but she was quickly ushered into the small café, where she was met with Edgeworth and Kay. The prosecutor was sitting down at a nearby table, a small cup of green tea in his hands, and the teenager was standing against a wall, munching on a pink macaroon, a small bag of them in her hands.

Phoenix sat down across from Edgeworth, and Kay joined them, sitting in between them. Pearl looked around cautiously. Nobody else was in the café, and the owner and cashier were nowhere in sight. By the scuff marks in the floor, the peeling wallpaper, and the faded curtains hanging in the window, this place hadn't been touched for quite a while.

"So, this is what you meant by ears..." Pearl muttered softly. "What's this about...?"

Phoenix folded his hands on the table and motioned for Pearl to sit down. "Tell us everything you know, Pearl. About Maya and her future."


	4. Chapter 4

**If I messed up spelling any of the Japanese words here, please tell me. Thank you!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

**March 18, 4:10 p.m.**  
**Kat's Cake and Coffee- Main room**

Pearl sat down in front of Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Kay silently. She felt suddenly light-headed, stunned, even, from the remark Phoenix had just gave.

"Well?" Phoenix asked. "What do you know about what's going to happen to Maya?"

"I have a question first, though." Pearl replied. "How did you figure all this out?"

"You told me all I needed to know." Phoenix answered.

"So, you not believing me was just an act, to get them to come?" Pearl asked. "Why? Why get them involved?"

"Hey, I just came here by choice." Kay said. "But seriously, you're surrounded by people who just want to help. If you can just let down those walls for just one minute and tell us what you know, then maybe we can help save your cousin!"

Pearl looked carefully at the three of them. None of them seemed to be lying, and didn't look like they'd take whatever she said outside the cafe to somebody else. Honest, caring people who just wanted to help her.

Pearl let out a heavy sigh, then got up from the table and started to leave. Phoenix stood up after her, and Kay took a step forward and stopped, unsure if she should intervene.

"Where are you going, Miss Fey?" Edgeworth asked, standing as well.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't say everything on my mind just yet." Pearl replied. "I'm sure all of you understand, right?"

"I think we would understand more if you just told us what was going on!" Phoenix shouted back. He grabbed Pearl's arm, holding her back. "Please, Pearl, just tell us what's going on. You mentioned something about knowing everything that was going to happen to Maya. That you needed my help to solve everything. To escape this maze of a life you're currently living in. Four people are better than two, right? And that's miles above just one person. Please, let us help you, Pearls. It's too hard to do this alone."

Pearl suddenly collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Phoenix silently helped her up as she began attempting to talk, leading her back over to the table.

"You don't know how many years I've been like this, Mr. Nick..." She said, her throat and words clogged with tears. "You don't know how many years I've lived this month in an attempt to make all of this right...!"

"Start with the beginning." Kay said. "How exactly did you end up like this?"

After a few minutes of trying to start and breaking down even more, Pearl finally calmed down enough to speak. She wiped her eyes with a tissue Edgeworth had given her, and began to speak.

"In order to talk about how I became this way and about how to save Maya, I first have to explain something very important about Kurain Village and those who live there." Pearl explained. "Namely, about the magatamas and what they do, besides unlock our powers." Phoenix pulled out his own magatama, still glowing softly with spiritual energy. "You see, each and every descendant of the Kurain clan has been cursed with the blood of some sort of demon, an _oni_. It depends on which person, though."

"So, is that how...?" Kay started to ask. Pearl nodded.

"Yes, it is." Pearl answered. "The truth is, Kay and I actually knew each other before we met today. We are both _shinigami. _However, I am different from others like us."

"Wait just a moment, Miss Fey." Edgeworth said. "_Shinigami, _as in, the Japanese gods of death?"

"Yeah, that's us." Kay said. "Usually, we get our powers from a rare chance that when we die, we sign a contract to come back to life and reap souls in exchange. However, you just said that you were different. How so?"

Pearl took a deep breath. "I am very different from everyone else at Kurain. The _oni _lurking in my blood is named Shira, the guardian spirit who watches over Kurain Village. A _shinigami._ In fact, not only am I linked to her, I'm her reincarnation."

There was silence to let it all sink in. Pearl soon took notice of the darker atmosphere in the room, but paid it no heed.

"From the moment I was born, I knew I was different." Pearl went on. "The first face I saw was not my mother's but Shira's. She followed me around, guided me, made my powers what they are today. In fact, she's listening to this conversation right now. She's proud of me for finally sharing this burden with all of you."

"How long have you been emotionally stable like this?" Phoenix asked, changing the subject momentarily.

"Far too long." Pearl answered, her eyes glancing at the table. "The first few times, I was fine, but eventually the stress and secrecy of it all started to take its toll."

"...'First few times...?'" Kay asked. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"It's a secondary power I have." Pearl replied. "Whenever I die, I can reset time to before it happens. The catch, though, is that it only works if I'm murdered, and the more I use it in a short amount of time, the fewer days I can reset back to. This is what I've been doing to attempt to save everybody's lives."

The three were taken aback by the last statement. "Everybody's?!"

Pearl nodded. "Yes. You see, there seems to be a special virus in Kurain Village. It affects the brain, and once that person leaves Kurain, it can take over their body, leaving them to become corrupted. Some people, like the master and shrine maiden, however, are immune to these effects. They also have access to powerful medicines that can reduce the severity of their symptoms, as well. I've been using that on Maya until she can get fully recovered at Kurain. Although, it seems to be slowly mutating, and becoming more aggressive with her."

"But, Maya's the heir to the title of Kurain Master." Phoenix protested. "Why is she getting sick, then?"

"You just answered your own question, Wright." Edgeworth said. "She is not yet master, so she's not immune."

"And to answer your question about why those symptoms have just now started appearing, it's because she's gone back and forth to Kurain." Pearl added. "The first signs of symptoms actually take quite a while to develop, and are impeded further by staying in Kurain. Though, there is one minor...glitch with this."

"Glitch?" Kay asked. "What kind of glitch are we talking about?"

"The more you go back to Kurain and leave, the faster the virus spreads to the outside." Pearl said darkly. "Not only that, but those who stay and go back from the outside have a high chance of getting the virus."


	5. Chapter 5

**I was listening to Clannad music while writing this chapter, so if Phoenix starts sounding like Tomoya from Clannad, that's probably why.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

A still, almost calming silence emanated from the small group. Pearl stood up again.

"That's it?" Phoenix asked. "That's all you have to say on the subject?"

"Well, there is one other thing." Pearl answered. "Maya doesn't know about these powers, and this curse. She knows about the virus, and that's it. So, if you could not tell her about it..." She walked out of the cafe without finishing, but they knew what she meant by it.

Edgeworth calmly stood up, Kay following. "Wright, I suggest you visit Ms. Fey in the hospital." He said. "Kay and I will try to investigate whatever this virus in Kurain Village is about. I have a feeling that there's something else going on. Something we're missing the entirety of." Phoenix nodded. "Come, we'll take the both of you home."

As Edgeworth started his car, he noticed Pearl standing outside the cafe, whispering something, her voice inaudible from the distance. Then, she looked up, her eyes glowing slightly. Once again, he couldn't hear her words, but she opened her mouth enough for him to make out what she was saying.

_You don't know what you're doing to her, after all. Am I correct in saying that?_

Phoenix stepped out from the front passenger seat. "Pearls. Come on, you'll catch cold if you stay out there too long." Pearl looked at him for a moment, her eyes dulling back to their regular color, and walked over to the car. "I still want to visit Maya, even though I can't really confirm anything you just said to us."

Pearl nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry to just throw all of this at you so suddenly, and then tell you that there's nothing you can do. But, it's my fight, so I have to do this on my own, right?"

"I guess, but wouldn't it be at least a little easier to know that you have people to support you?" Phoenix asked. "People you can count on to keep you going, at least for a little while?"

Pearl thought about it for a moment, then said, "I suppose. Though, I just really need your help on this, Mr. Nick. Remember how I told you that you were Mystic Maya's special someone? There's more to that than you'd think..."

Phoenix nodded softly in response. The rest of the car ride was silent, until Edgeworth pulled over next to the hospital to let the two of them out. They both said their goodbyes and walked in, still silent, both mulling over what had been said and what was going to happen.

* * *

**March 18, 6:15 p.m.**  
**Hotti Clinic- Room 5053**

Maya was sitting up in her bed, watching the sun set out of her window when Phoenix and Pearl walked in. Her hair was down and swirled around her slightly as she turned around and smiled softly at them, waving.

"Glad to see you better." Phoenix said as he pulled a chair over and sat down. The room was a calming mint green, with a wide window over her bed, a pair of white transparent curtains hanging over it. It was decorated simply, so it was very aesthetically pleasing and gentle on the eyes.

"I feel a lot better." Maya said. "Thanks for coming to see me, Nick." Her voice was slightly hoarse, but still the way it was, with a hint of happiness. Phoenix smiled at her. "What?"

"You look really nice in blue, Maya." He simply said. She looked back at him, blushing silently. "Hey, you know what? If we ever get a chance to ourselves, with no investigations or medium training or anything, just the two of us together, let's go to one of those fancy department stores and get you a pretty blue dress. How about that?"

Maya leaned her head on his sleeve and hugged his arm. "So that I can be your lady in blue?"

Phoenix rustled her hear slightly with his other hand. "Yeah. Promise you'll wear it, too, okay? Wear it around, even if there's nothing special going on, you just want to think of me."

"I'd never forget you, Phoenix." Maya said.

"You...you just called me by full name, not Nick..." Phoenix whispered, blushing slightly. Maya looked up at him.

"I did...didn't I?" She asked, her magatama glowing softly. "I...called you...Phoenix... I didn't really notice, to be honest..." She buried her head into his arm again, but Phoenix raised it again, parted her bangs softly, and kissed her on the forehead. Maya then grabbed Nick's arm, sit up a little higher, and kissed him on the lips, tears starting to run down her face. "I don't want you to go... They're keeping me overnight for a sleep observation, and I know that nightmare's going to come back. Please, don't go..."

Phoenix leaned her forehead against his. "I know. The doctor told me. Pearl and I will be nearby, so if there's any problem, we'll be right over." He held her close, Maya burying her face in his chest. "You'll be okay, Maya. You're going to be okay..."

"I had a dream, while they were fixing up my back, and later on during the day..." Maya said, her voice becoming thick with tears. "You were dead...and I had no one else. Pearl disappeared, I was left all alone...!" She finally broke down and started crying, clutching his shoulder with her left hand, the bandages rustling against the fabric of his suit. "These scars will never go away, Nick. No matter what I try to do, they will never fade. The same goes for what I saw in my dream. Every time I close my eyes, I just see you laying in the street, covered in blood...there was so much blood everywhere, Nick, it was so scary, and I kept thinking, 'you're okay, it's just a dream. You'll wake up soon,' but no matter how hard I thought it, until I was just screaming the words 'wake up,' and I wasn't... I thought it was real... That you were really dead...!"

"Well, I'm here now." Phoenix replied, stroking her back softly. He could feel the thick bandages everywhere on her skin, and the small tremors that crawled up her spine when he found where the cuts were from that morning. "I'm here right now. You don't have to worry anymore."

"Hey, Nick, promise me you won't leave my side?" Maya asked softly. "Please?"

Phoenix nodded softly. "I promise, Maya."

* * *

**March 18, 6:45 p.m.**  
**Outside the Hotti Clinic**

"You know, I've just noticed something." Pearl said as they walked along the street.

"Really?" Phoenix asked. "What's that?" He still had a faint blush on his cheeks from what happened with Maya.

"Each time I've gone through, you and Maya have grown closer to each other." Pearl explained. "Going from just being friends to awkward romantic interests and so on and so forth...but this time, you don't seem to act like any of those things."

"Really?" Phoenix replied. "So, then how do we act?"

"Well, it's something beyond a romantic relationship." Pearl answered. "It's almost like...you and Mystic Maya's souls are interconnected. Whatever fate she goes through, you'll be dragged in, because it's your destiny to always be involved somehow with her. Your empathy with one another has gone up, too. You feel her emotions stronger than other people's. I wonder if it has anything to do with how many times I've tried to save you guys?"

"I don't know either, Pearl." Phoenix said. "Hey, do you want to get some _taiyaki? _I was thinking we could have it so we wouldn't be tempted to get any over priced concessions at the theater. There's this new movie playing at one nearby, and we could use the stress relief."

"Okay." Pearl said happily. "Can you get mine with red bean filling, please?"

"Red bean filling?" Phoenix echoed. "I would've thought you'd gone with something sweeter, like cream."

"But Mystic Maya _always_ gets me cream filling for my _taiyaki._" Pearl protested. "I want something different. And besides, it's not like I'm getting _matcha_ filling!"

"Fine, we'll get red bean filling for you." Phoenix replied. "But, you'd better eat it. I'm not going to eat it for you, you know!"

"Oh, Mr. Nick, you know only Maya would do that!" Pearl giggled.

"That doesn't mean you'd do the same thing, you know!" Phoenix said back, laughing. Pearl ran down the street, where the _taiyaki _stand was at. Phoenix hurried after her, still laughing. Once he caught up to her, he swooped down and picked her up, ruffling her hair. They got their food afterwards and walked down the street and sat down on a bench, watching everyone pass them by.

"You know, it's been quite a while since I've been that carefree." Pearl said quietly. "It's been so long, I've almost forgotten what it feels like to be happy. Thank you for putting that feeling back where it should be, Mr. Nick."

"You're welcome, I guess." Phoenix said. He took a bite out of his sweet potato filled pastry. "Though, you know, you really shouldn't have to depend on other people for stuff like that. Try to make yourself happy by doing something yourself that you know will lift your spirits."

"It's easier said than done." Pearl replied. "The first few times, I tried to act like myself, but it never got me anywhere. I guess you could say that I forced myself to think like an adult, even though I' still in a kid's world."

"Yeah, from Maya said, it sounds like you've been through some rough times." Phoenix responded. "By the way, was that from me helping you out? Did you actually tell us earlier everything that was going to happen, and let us help you?" Pearl looked down and nodded. "Figures. Though, I would've done the same thing in your shoes, too. You're a smart kid, you know that? You're just not very trusting of others."

"That's probably also because of all of this." Pearl said. "Hey, Mr. Nick? Do you think I'll ever have a normal life after this?"

"If you stop reversing time only when necessary, then yes." The lawyer answered, eating the rest of his food. "But, you have to regain your innocence, too. When you lose something that important to you, it can be hard to get back. I know you can do it, though. Get out there and make some new friends. It'll help take the pain away." Phoenix got up and stretched. "Come on, let's go. I'm sure that Maya would want us to have a good time while she's recovering, as well. No use worrying about every little thing, right?" Pearl nodded and hopped off the bench, finishing the rest of her _taiyaki_ and grabbing Phoenix's hand as they walked down the road, looking at the city skyline swallow up the sunset and bathe everything in its remaining warm orange light.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, this chapter was a bit of a pain to edit... For some reason, Fanfiction doesn't like having multiple paragraphs in italics lately.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

**March 18, 7:00 p.m.  
Hotti Clinic- Room 5053**

Maya was still looking out the window when Dr. Sycamore walked in, her hair put back up in its usual style. She turned around when she heard the door open, her expression quite a perplexing one: Her mouth was a slightly curved line of apathy, but her eyes reflected sadness, and even a hint of fear reflected in them. The fading sunlight streaming in through the window caused her features on her face to be covered in shadow, causing them to make her look like something quite wiser than she was, a past version of someone like her.

"So, I'm supposed to be heading downstairs for the overnight evaluation now?" She asked the doctor. He nodded, and she got up out of her bed. "Very well, then. But, I do have trouble sleeping sometimes."

"Oh, that's quite fine." Dr. Sycamore replied, taking her hand and leading her away from her room. He waited for her to get on a pair of slippers before taking her any further. "We'll put you to sleep using a special gas. It'll also keep you asleep, as well, in case you have any problems staying asleep."

Maya and Dr. Sycamore got into a small elevator and rode down in silence to a basement level, thick concrete walls surrounding them in. Large rooms with wide windows and monitors stretched out as far as Maya could tell in that section. Maya could tell they were close to the morgue, because she could feel the energy left behind by the departed around her.

"Please remove any metallic items and jewelry you may have on." A nurse said to Maya as she walked over to them, holding a small bin. "You'll put them in this plastic bin here, and in the morning you can pick them up from upstairs. It's so the data from the instruments doesn't get corrupted. It's highly delicate."

Maya nodded and undid her hair, then hesitantly took off her magatama necklace and put it in the bin as she was told.

"Please don't let it get damaged." Maya said as the nurse walked away. The nurse nodded, and Dr. Sycamore left as she got changed into a new gown and had electrodes stuck to her skin.

"So, what are we monitoring?" Maya asked when he came back. She sat on the bed in the middle of the room, which had scratchy, uncomfortable sheets and felt like cold metal underneath.

"We're going to be monitoring your brain waves and pulse, as well as a projection of what could be in your dream at that point in time." Dr. Sycamore replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll also play back the dream for you, so we can test you a little further of what reactions you get from recalling it back. Is it okay for you to be lying flat on your back with your injuries? Do you know?"

"It should be fine." Maya said. "After all, you did have me restrained to my bed for most of the morning..."

Dr. Sycamore nodded slightly, then clapped his hands together. "Well, then, let's begin, shall we? After we start the administration of the gas, I'm going to be outside that window with those other doctors there, and we'll control everything from there manually. If anything happens inside the building, I can wake you up instantly and we'll do whatever procedure we have to do." Maya nodded, and he gently pushed her back onto the bed, holding a small mask up to her face. He twisted a valve on one of the bottles nearby, and instantly ran out of the room, closing and locking the door.

"Vitals are doing well, brain waves are normal..." One of the doctors said as he started messing with the controls slightly.

"Good. Let's see that dream simulation." Dr. Sycamore replied. "I want to know what caused this to happen..."

* * *

**March 18, 9:45 p.m.**  
**Outside the theater**

Phoenix and Pearl walked outside the movie theater, Phoenix looking quite embarrassed and Pearl quite happy.

"I still think you could've told me that it was a horror movie, Pearls..." Phoenix muttered softly. He grabbed her arm so she wouldn't get lost in the now growing crowd of nightlife.

"But I hadn't seen that one yet." Pearl replied. "I liked that movie a lot. The ending was really sweet, too...the way he told her that he would her never leave her side was so touching and romantic, don't you think?"

"Yes, the romance aspect was very nicely done, as was the horror." Phoenix added. "I wouldn't have really thought that it could've been done without almost every scene having a jumpscare, though..."

"But those jumpscares were so well done!" Pearl protested. "You really couldn't tell when they were gonna pop up. I mean, you saw them, but then, there they were when you completely forgot about them."

Phoenix nodded, slightly distracted. "Is it just me, or...?"

"No, I don't think so." Pearl whispered. "There's something wrong...something feels off somehow..."

* * *

**March 18, 8:30 p.m.  
Hotti Clinic- Basement level, sleep observation room 1**

* * *

"Dr. Sycamore, these wave readings are quite high." A doctor said, pointing it out on the charts. "I've never seen these spikes before. They were normal just a couple minutes ago..." She ran over to a monitor, filled with different types of medicines, then looked back up at the leader of the small group. "Dr., what do we...?"

Dr. Sycamore didn't even seem to be paying attention to anything around him, only watching the dream simulation and the small charts next to it with a look of insane joy shining in his eyes.

"What's going on in her dream?" One of the nurses asked. Another asked the same thing, and there was soon a crowd gathered in front of the little screen on the window.

The only one who didn't was the doctor who had noticed the sudden spike in brain activity.

* * *

_Maya had grabbed a small key, bronzed from age and with two sets of teeth instead of one. She held it in her hand tightly as she walked out of the courthouse library and down a small flight of steps. She didn't even feel in control of her body anymore, it was as if she was being pulled along by some invisible force, her body moving gracefully down that familiar corridor._

_However, she knew what was happening instantly. Maya tried to stop herself, but only to have her efforts be in vain. She screamed out, tried to turn around, stop moving, but she kept inching closer to that door._

_The door that she never found the secrets to._

_The door that never opened for her, because she was too afraid to see what was on the other side._

_Falling to the ground, Maya suddenly got up and ran towards the door, practically jamming the key in the lock, twisting_ _it around to make the other set of teeth fit, and hearing the click of the door unlock._

_Maya stepped back a little, horrified at what she had done. She had never lost control of what she did like that before,_ _but the other side of her soon took control again, walking towards the door and pushing it open, a large gust of wind_ _almost pushing her back._

_"I'm not doing it this time!" She screamed, feeling the heat of a hot iron spear near her neck. "I didn't continue the_ _dream... The people on the other side of the glass...they forced me to...!"_

_At that moment, the spear was taken away from her neck and placed into her hands. The wind went away, and Maya_ _stepped forward, shattering the world, like pieces of crystal dancing around her._

* * *

The doctors and nurses were horrified at the dream, which had now been reduced to static on a screen. One of the doctors turned to ask Dr. Sycamore something, only to see him running out, hurriedly getting into the elevator.

The glass on the other side shattered, a thick bottle of some sort of gas lying on the floor. Maya stood in front of the window silently, then climbed over the glass that was remaining in the frame and dropped to the ground. A metal pipe in her hand.

This was barely registered by the doctors before Maya held it up in a striking position and knocked the first doctor to the ground by hitting her jaw, then her left temple. The second doctor was roughly pushed to the side and got a metal pipe to the back of his head.

The third doctor, however, had better plans.

He grabbed a small syringe filled with a tranquilizer and a bone saw, rushing the spirit medium. She smiled, then dropped the pipe, grabbed the saw, and drove it into his side, hitting the syringe out of his hand.

One of the nurses had found a fire extinguisher, and used it to covered the room in foam and mist, but it only backfired. Maya found the nurses almost instantly, and rushed them with either the pipe or the bone saw.

"What are you doing...?" A voice asked behind Maya. She turned around and saw the doctor who hadn't paid attention to the dream. She was sitting on the floor, bloodstains in her clothes from when she tried to stop Maya and never got close enough to do anything. "Why are you doing this to us...?"

Maya picked up the fire extinguisher and walked towards the woman. Her voice was cold and emotionless, almost as if she had explained it a million times before. "I had no choice. They were more interested in what went on in my head than what was going on with me in reality. Besides, they knew too much about it. What was 'wrong' with me...if I didn't destroy them now, I would've done it later on in the future. You were the only one who was actually concerned about me, and even tried to stop me at times. I guess not all mortals are cruel, after all..."

"So, then, what are we going to do now...?" The doctor asked, standing up slowly.

"Well, since I like you, I'll spare you for now." Maya said. "But, I need to go after Sycamore. He's the real target in all this." She walked over to the elevator. "We'd better find a way to corrupt the footage from this camera, too. Cover up our tracks."

"Wait." The doctor said. Maya stopped. "What does Sycamore know? Why are you going after him?"

Maya turned to face the doctor, then simply smiled. "Everything that my Key doesn't know about himself, and the role that he plays in everything."

* * *

**March 18, 10:45 p.m.  
Hotti Clinic- Main Lobby**

"Dammit, why did the traffic have to be so bad tonight?" Phoenix said as he and Pearl ran into the lobby. "It took us an entire hour to get here...Pearl, what do you know about this night? What happens here tonight?"

"We've usually been getting here before everything happens, so I'm afraid that this all unfamiliar to me." Pearl replied, then paused. "Wait."

"What?" Phoenix asked, then gasped as Pearl held her arm out, a large scythe appearing in her hands. It was made of black ivory, silver and red braiding slightly in a double helix around the handle. The blade was a pristine gleaming silver color, and the bottom of the handle was a shorter, pointed blade, this one a darker gray.

"Keyblade is around." Pearl said, her voice becoming deeper again. "And there's a hatched Death Seed nearby."

* * *

**March 18, 9:36 p.m.  
Hotti Clinic- Nurse's Lounge**

"So, that's why you need him alive..." The doctor, Stephanii, mused. "I would've never guessed that's what had happened to you."

"Yes, it's a lot, I know." Maya replied. She was wearing her magatama again, and was smiling softly, even though her eyes reflected a look of pain. "I've been through quite a bit, and it isn't even just me, of course. All the women of Kurain have been through a similar fate."

Stephanii brushed some of her coppery red hair to the side. "Oh, wow. So, it's no wonder you acted like that with your magatama off..."

"Hm?" Maya tilted her head to the side. "Oh, so it happened again...I see..." She looked down slightly.

Stephanii was slightly alarmed at the girl's sudden change of mood. However, she knew she had to find out about her new ally as much as she could. "What happened the last time something like this occurred?"

* * *

**March 18, 10:00 p.m.  
Hotti Clinic- Room 5053**

Pearl shivered as she walked into Maya's room, which had been Phoenix's idea of where to start looking. Still an empty field of white, with the curtains lying still.

"Edgeworth." Phoenix said. The prosecutor turned around the sound of his name. "What are you doing here? Where's Maya? Do you know?"

Edgeworth shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. Kay ran off on me when we entered, saying something about a sort of seed, or some such nonsense."

"A Death Seed." Pearl responded. "It's hatched somewhere in this hospital. Keyblade...she isn't strong enough to take on a Death Seed that size on her own."

Phoenix was just about to ask what exactly a Death Seed was when Pearl took off her magatama necklace, handed it to him, and told him to keep it safe. She faded from their view as she walked out of the room, and other than that, there was silence from the two men.

"So, I guess we should just look for Maya on our own, then..." Phoenix said quietly. He picked up his own magatama from out of his pocket and found it to be glowing slightly brighter than usual. "What the...? It's never done this before..." He walked outside the room to find the glow getting brighter.

As Phoenix followed the magatama's glow, he began to think. It was, after all, quite easy to think freely if one was already preoccupied with a specific task on their mind.

_I wonder if it's reacting like this because this is Maya's magatama. _Phoenix thought. He looked into each of the rooms and found nobody in sight. _Yes, that must be it. It's finding its original owner. In fact, whenever, I hold in it my hand, I can feel a familiar aura emanating form it...Maya's aura. She must've attached herself to it somehow, but who knows when that was? And, more importantly, why would she do it? Does she actually know the truth of what's happening right now? Does she really know Pearl's secret, and why she can never escape this nightmare...?_

The magatama suddenly stopped glowing, and went back to what it looked like before. Phoenix put it back in his pocket and saw that there was only one door ahead of him.

_I have a feeling that I'm needed to be her side. _ Phoenix thought as he walked closer. _That I play a much bigger role in this than I think I do. But, I've always felt that way towards her. Like I'm protector...No, it's more than that. It's like...I'm needed for her very survival, as if her life depends on me..._

Phoenix finally made it to the door, and pushed it open. The two women inside the room turned around upon hearing the door open, one standing up and smiling softly.

"So, you've finally found me..."


End file.
